The present invention relates to an apparatus for processing mail and, more specifically, to an apparatus for severing an edge of an envelope to facilitate removal of the contents from the envelope.
Automated and semi-automated machines have been employed for processing mail. One such device is an envelope opener that is operable to sever an edge of each piece of mail being processed. A typical known envelope opener has an input bin for receiving a stack of mail, and a feeder for feeding the envelopes from the input bin to a conveyor that conveys the envelopes to a device that severs an edge of the envelopes.
In the known envelope openers, the weight of the stack of mail in the input bin tends to cause adjacent envelopes to adhere to one another, hampering the feeding of the envelopes from the input bin. To overcome this problem, the operator manually manipulates the mail in the input bin in order to obtain optimum feeding. In addition, existing machines typically incorporate a feed plate that supports the stack of envelopes at an incline. When a feed plate is utilized, optimum processing of the mail depends upon the length of the envelopes being processed and the position of the feed plate. Therefore, to optimize feeding, the operator must determine the appropriate position for the feed plate and manually adjust the feed plate position. These various manual operations that must be performed by the operator to achieve optimum processing reduce the overall efficiency of the mail processing operation.
In light of the shortcomings of the existing devices, the present invention provides an envelope opening apparatus for efficiently processing mail. The apparatus includes an input bin for receiving a stack of envelopes. A feeder serially feeds the envelopes from the input bin to a transport which conveys the envelopes along an envelope path. An agitator confronts the stack of envelopes in the input bin and reciprocally displaces at least one envelope in the stack. A cutter positioned along the envelope path operates to sever one edge of each of the envelopes.